Scope and Content

The archive contains correspondence, mainly from Hywel T James, relating to Cylch Dewi; reports and published pamphlets produced by Cylch Dewi concerning issues of Welsh education; minutes of, and records of attendance at Cylch Dewi meetings, and the Cylch Dewi constitution.

Administrative / Biographical History

Cylch Dewi was a politically nationalist group based in Aberystwyth. Established around 1919, its members were mainly drawn from the academic and literary communities, and the main driving forces behind the group were Hywel T James and R T Jenkins. Cylch Dewi's aims were to foster the use of the Welsh language; to ensure the rightful place of the language, literature and history of Wales in the Welsh educational system; to make the Welsh language, and the literature and education of Wales, the basis of a true native culture; to enrich Welsh national life by drawing on the best in life and thought from abroad, and to support all other movements aiming to secure a fuller and freer national life for the Welsh people. The group developed during the 1920s into the first movement demonstrating for Welsh language broadcasting.